Escaping trouble is a very important tool to keep your round going. The important part about escaping trouble is understanding your skill versus the shot you're trying to pull off. Skill level really comes down to how much you've practiced that certain shot as well applying the right technique. It is ultimately always favorable to go the safest route even if it leaves you a long distance. However as your skill level improves, a risky shot can turn into a relatively safe shot once practiced.
When assessing what to do, decisions you will always deliberate on will be 'do I want to go low', 'high' or 'bend it around trouble.' You could obviously do a combination of both (bending it low or high) depending on your confidence level.
To hit the ball low grab a long club such as a 5 or 4 iron and put the ball back in your stance. The hands will be quite forward of the club which is good because it will make the ball stay very low. The key to keeping the ball low is making sure that you keep to around a half swing as well ensuring the hands stay in front of the ball at impact with your weight moving forward.
To hit a high shot just move the ball position more forward in your stance (opposite your left heel) and again ensure you move your weight onto your front foot. Obviously you could use a short club like a 9 or an 8 depending on what distance you're trying to get. Sometimes if I wanted to hit a high, long distance shot I may use a 5 iron and open the face a little as well so that I can get good distance with the height.
When choosing a club for a low or high shot make sure you settle on a club that doesn't give you too much risk. Put simply make sure you avoid the trouble by going quite lower or higher than you might need to.
Now when adding turn on the ball as well, it would all come down to your set-up and alignment. If you wanted to hit a low or high slice, aim the club head at where you want the ball to finish and aim your body at where you want the ball to start. With a slice that would mean aiming the feet left and clubface at the target. Depending on whether you want the ball to go low or high would determine where the ball position would be. The same applies when trying to hit a hook.
When trying to apply a lot of turn, it would mean trying to swing along the line of your feet and deliberating trying to turn the face harder to left to create a 'hook' or holding off the clubface to 'open' to create a slice.
If you'd like any further tips on how to escape trouble, book in for a lesson and we'll apply it to real world situations.
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